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Amplify, Not Optimize: Dave Malouf Returns to Rosenfeld Review

Our closing keynoter at DesignOps 2019, Dave Malouf a veteran design leader, strategist, facilitator, researcher, and educator who has worked with some of the largest and fastest growing organizations globally. He was also one of the creators of the very first DesignOps Summit in 2017. Hear from him about the evolution of DesignOps, and his belief that we need a new framework that emphasizes the topline—the creation of value—over bottomline fixation on resource optimization. This new framing is at the root of DesignOps framework that Dave Malouf will share in his closing keynote. Get a taste of what’s in store for Dave’s keynote “Amplify, Not Optimize” at this year’s DesignOps Summit in New York City, October 23-25.

AI as Infrastructure

Dan Hill is the director of the Melbourne School of Design at the University of Melbourne, and author of Dark Matter and Trojan Horses: A Strategic Design Vocabulary and Designing Missions. And he’s the opening speaker at the inaugural Designing with AI 2024 conference, where he’ll be presenting “Designing for the Infrastructures of Everyday Life”.

Like it or not, AI is a growing part of our infrastructure—not just the infrastructure of our phones, our computers, and the internet—but that of our physical world. It’s increasingly used to support the very fundamental systems that maintain our cities, hospitals, utilities, and educational systems. On some levels, this is cause for concern. After all, we’ve seen other implementations of AI (think riding-sharing services) that have not lived up to their promise but have instead aggravated some of the problems they sought to address.

Dan is a big-picture guy with an ability to draw principles from history and other sectors. He understands that utilizing AI is inevitable. The challenge is recognizing the interconnectedness of our various systems and working together to build infrastructures that truly create better life experiences for all.

What You’ll Learn from this Episode:

  • The many facets of infrastructures
  • How AI is currently being used and how it might be used in the future to support our infrastructures
  • Why ride-sharing is not exactly an AI model worth repeating
  • Why the Japanese and Finnish models work well in those environments but aren’t necessarily transferable to more diverse cultures
  • Why quality of life will only improve with a more holistic, integrated design approach

Quick Reference Guide
0:37 – Introduction of Dan
3:49 – AI as infrastructure
8:30 – How AI might be used to further support infrastructure systems
12:09 – Will the impact of AI actually make life better?
18:59 – Plug for Managing Priorities by Harry Max. Get 15% off!
20:15 – The metaphor of designing looking through a lens and technology’s impact on the material world
26:16 – Helpful models – the Japanese and Finnish cultures
31:52 – Dan’s gift to the audience

Making the Most of Meetings: A Chat with Kevin M. Hoffman

Lou sat down with author Kevin M. Hoffman to talk about his book, “Meeting Design: For Managers, Makers, and Everyone”. Kevin explains how and why design thinking can be applied to meetings. Listen for tips you can use right away to set your meetings up for success.

The Blind Spot of Innovation: a Chat with Nathan Shedroff and Steve Diller

Most companies innovate backwards–focusing first on what features or products they can build. In reality, you’re in the relationship business. Authors Nathan Shedroff and Steve Diller talk about new tools they’ve developed to help businesses innovate with customer relationships in mind.

Animation for Better UX: a Chat with Val Head

As a designer since the early days of Flash, Val Head knows first hand how animation design has evolved to become a powerful tool for creating better user experiences. Hear Val’s insights from her book Designing Interface Animation––for how using motion to enhance your brand, and mobile UX.

Dave Gray and Lou Rosenfeld discuss the power of liminal thinking

When you sit in the middle of an organization, it’s easy to believe you can’t change things. Dave and Lou talk about how we can tap our powers of liminal thinking to shed light on why people act the way they do and create safe spaces that foster better collaboration.

Reflection in Action with Jodi Forlizzi

Jodi Forlizzi has taken an unusual path to get where she is today. With an art degree from the University of Arts in Philadelphia, she began working as a technical illustrator at the University of Pennsylvania. Transitioning into UX design as the internet expanded, she pursued a Master’s in Interaction Design at Carnegie Mellon University where she is now a professor. Jodi’s work focuses on responsible AI and diversity in computer science. Her talk at the upcoming Designing with AI 2024 conference will explore the evolving role of AI in design processes and products.

Jodi distinguishes between “designing with AI” and “designing AI,” arguing the importance of designers’ involvement in the entire product development lifecycle. She highlights the challenges of AI innovation, such as data availability, value generation, customer adoption, and ethical considerations and emphasizes that designers have a place in all realms of AI development.

Jodi’s interview offers a glimpse into the evolving landscape of AI-driven design and the pivotal role of designers in shaping its future. With a blend of historical context, personal anecdotes, and insights, she inspires designers of all stripes to embrace the challenges and opportunities presented by AI innovation.

What You’ll Learn from this Episode

  • How Jodi went from a Master of Fine Arts degree to working on responsible AI at Carnegie Mellon
  • Why designers are needed in all phases of AI development
  • How careers morph as technologies develop and become obsolete
  • Lessons from history and the “friendly vending machine”
  • Why solving for “Drunk Island” problems is usually more helpful than chasing a loftier issue

Quick Reference Guide
0:25 – Introducing Jodi
2:59 – On boundaries around innovating with AI
6:40 – 4 reasons AI models fail
8:07 – The role of designers and the challenge of starting the design process from the middle of the double diamond
11:49 – The role of bridge builders
14:48 – The morphing of careers due to the emergence and prevalence of AI
17:19 – Commercial break – Managing Priorities: How to Create Better Plans and Make Smarter Decisions by Harry Max
18:26 – AI as a design material
21:08 – Constraints and structure on AI as a design material
24:39 – Jodi’s gift for the audience

Civic Design for the Next Seven Generations—A Discussion on Sacred Civics (Videoconference)

In Sacred Civics: Building Seven Generation Cities, Jayne Engle and Tanya Chung-Tiam-Fook assemble visions for how spirituality and sacred values are essential for reimagining how we live, organize and govern ourselves, determine and distribute wealth, inhabit and design cities, and construct relationships with others and nature. Join us for a discussion with Jayne and Tanya on what it looks like to design for the next seven generations. 

Optional: read Sacred Civics: Building Seven Generation Cities in print or open access!

Designing Conversational Interfaces (Videoconference)

There has never been a better time to design conversational UIs! In this informal session followed by extensive Q&A, Greg Nudelman, the author of 5 UX design books, veteran presenter, and designer of conversational UIs on 5 different projects in a variety of industries discussed key aspects of the conversational bot experience and conversational UI best practices. Participants learned: how to pick the right bot framework, how to use basic building blocks of bot dialog (Intents, Entities, Dialogs) to create conversational UIs, and the key importance of context and channels (Mobile, Wearables, etc.) for shaping the conversational experience. We spent the bulk of time on what is “right around the bend” in the near-future of conversational UIs. From practical tips you can put to work immediately, to inspiration for your next project, participants came away saying “Bot Future so Bright, Gotta Wear Ear-Muffs!”

Opening Keynote: Org Design for Design Orgs

As the move to establish in-house design teams accelerates, it turns out there’s very little common wisdom on what makes for a successful design organization. Books and presentations tend to focus on process, methods, and tools, leaving a gap of knowledge when it comes to organizational and operational matters. Kristin Skinner, Head of Design Management at Capital One and co-author of Org Design for Design Orgs: Building and Managing In-House Design Teams, will shine a light on the unsung activities of actually running a design team, the operational challenges and considerations, and what works and what doesn’t. Drawing on her experience managing design teams and organizations at Microsoft’s Pioneer Studios, Adaptive Path, and Capital One, Kristin will discuss how what happens “behind the scenes” and how a focus on design management and operations can ultimately affect a design organization’s output, quality, and effectiveness.